The Atlanta Blazers have hired Koji Itagaki as their next head coach.

Itagaki will replace Suzi Battison, who stepped down as the Blazers’ head coach on Monday. He will start Season 4 as the Blazers’ second head coach in two seasons.

“MLTT is [a] young league, but it has many possibilities,” Itagaki said. “I try my best for players, for [my] team, [and] also for the league to develop.”

Itagaki has coached TSV Bad Königshofen of Table Tennis Bundesliga since 2016. Under Itagaki, Bad Königshofen earned a promotion to the Bundesliga in 2018 and won the Bundesliga’s bronze medal in 2024 and 2025.

Itagaki has coached players such as Yukiya Uda (ITTF Men’s Singles No. 29), Andre Bertelsmeier (Men’s Singles No. 60) and Xue Fei (Men’s Singles No. 76) while with TSV Bad Königshofen. 

Prior to Bad Königshofen, Itagaki worked at the Aomori-Yamada High School in Japan for 14 years. Itagaki has overseen the development of several Japanese table tennis stars, including Jun Mizutani, Mizuki Oikawa (Men’s Singles No. 72) and New York Slice superstar Koki Niwa (SPINDEX: 2797).

“Koji Itagaki speaks English very well, and is extremely passionate and dedicated to table tennis,” Niwa said. “He was my teacher in both junior high and high school, and he had a big influence on me.”

Itagaki’s daughter, Koharu Itagaki, won the U15 Girls’ Singles title at the ITTF World Youth Championships 2025 in December. She currently ranks as the No. 18 Girls’ Singles player in the world.

Itagaki will join a Blazers team that finished its Season 3 with a 5-13 record and 155 points. Season 3 was the Blazers’ first year as an MLTT team, which they ended as the league’s No. 9 team and the No. 4 team in the East Division.

“We are very excited to welcome [Itagaki] to MLTT and the Atlanta Blazers,” said Blazers owner Scott Staples.

Itagaki will take over a Blazers team that rosters several Japanese players, including Kayama Yu (2804) and former No. 1 overall pick Yuya Oshima (2779). 

“I’ve known Coach Itagaki since my time in Japan,” Oshima said. “I believe his presence will be a great strength for Atlanta.”

The Blazers have the second-highest odds (23.8%) to receive the No. 1 overall pick in MLTT’s Season 4 Draft, which they could use to select a future superstar such as Quadri Aruna or Takuya Jin. They would earn their second consecutive No. 1 pick if they win the Season 4 Draft Lottery on April 7.

The rest of the Blazers’ current roster includes players such as Tom Feng (2657), Jeet Chandra (2634) and Andrea Todorovic (2497). Members of the Blazers hope that Itagaki’s extensive coaching resume could help expand upon what they built in their first season together.

“It’s exciting to have a coach with [Itagaki’s] legendary background,” Feng said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

The Blazers will return to MLTT for Season 4, which is expected to begin in September. All of their matches will be streamed on Table Tennis TV, which can be accessed on TableTennis.TV, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

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